My coven was looking at me with worried eyes. They stood over Nyx’s churned up grave with a hundred questions, I’m sure. I had to play this smart, otherwise I was going to lose my head. Literally. Pulling out my wand, I traced a few protection spells up my arms, powerful ones similar to the kind Rowena had traced onto Dax. When I got within earshot of my coven, I wasted no time getting right to the point.
“Nyx has been resurrected, and Rowena has ascended,” I told my kin.
Their faces fell into shock and confusion, some were openly crying, holding onto each other as they simultaneously mourned our high priestess and dealt with the news of Nyx’s resurrection. Seraphina Pluckhart however, was not carrying a worried look. She looked… nervous.
Gotcha.
“One of our own has betrayed us and conjured her. I’m sure of it.” I stated as Seraphina slowly pulled her wand from her pocket.
Bitch was going to burn for what she did to our beloved Rowena.
I went to step towards her, when a darkness descended onto the cemetery. A heavy blanket of despair fell over me, and I found myself fighting the dark magic best I could. My breathing was labored, and dark thoughts, blood, death and despair flashed through my mind. Thousands of cockroaches flooded the grounds of the cemetery, and I had to fight the urge to run.
Nyx had arrived.
Lydia was bound to me, as soul sisters and conjure partners. All I needed was to trace a quick message for her on my arm and then the same one would appear on hers. Wiccan text.
Kill Seraphina. I sent her.
Seraphina forgotten, I spun to see a big grey wolf at my back.
Dax.
Behind him, a black fog was spanning out into the cemetery carrying misery and fear with it.
“Tell your pack to shield their minds,” I told the wolf.
I didn’t know much about wolf magic but I knew they had some sort of mind control, or Dax did and he could protect their minds. I hoped so at least, otherwise we were screwed. Nyx could make a weak human take their own life in seconds. She was a master of mind control.
That’s when all hell broke loose, the sound of Seraphina and Lydia fighting behind me had started, but I kept my eyes forward. Gliding over the hill was Nyx in all her glory, the king of the local vampire court at her side with a dozen of his cronies.
Shit.
I take back what I said before. I hate vampires and werewolves. From now on, I will only date humans.
Dax’s low growl beside me reminded me he was here with me, and I was suddenly grateful for his pack’s presence. I was going to make him earn this date.
“Ladies!” I shouted. “Whoever kills the most vampires becomes my new second.” I told my coven.
Mariah, a powerful witch and good contender for second, burst forward, flinging injury spells left and right.
Good girl.
The rest of my coven advanced, stalking slowly, building up large spells with their wands, and I saw a few of Dax’s wolves come up behind the vampires on the other side of the hill. Of course she went to the vampires—it would be her only chance at beating us. I was convinced the reason Rowena was killed so easily by her was because she was caught of guard with no protection spells. For some godforsaken reason she chose to throw protection spells at Dax and not save herself.
I sighed. Time to put this bitch back in her grave. I was a little nervous, if I was being honest, I had the power of a high priestess sure but not the confidence. I knew Nyx couldn’t be killed. it was an impossibility but she could be put into a sleep. For that I would need a shitload of magic, my own blood blinding the spell and a sacrifice.
Sacrifice. Shit!
The cockroaches were skittering across my feet now, and I could feel the dark magic trying to press in on me. Trying to suck away my happiness and make me get lost in the dark thoughts that were floating through my mind. The longer Nyx stayed awake and the more people she killed, the more powerful she became. I needed to end this tonight because by tomorrow she might be too powerful for me to wrestle back into the sleep.
I remembered something then.
“Hey, can you talk to all animals or just your dog?” I asked Dax who was stuck to my side, his fur brushing against my leg.
He looked up at me… and said nothing, because he was a wolf. Right.
“Can you call an animal over so I can sacrifice it for a spell?” I asked him. If he said no, I’d have to pray one of these cockroaches counted but I wasn’t sure they were real, probably an illusion spell.
He looked conflicted for a second but then he nodded.
I was just about to pet his head or something to affirm he was a ‘good boy’ when a spell from Nyx slammed into my chest, throwing me backward.
Pain exploded inside of my stomach but ebbed directly after, as my protection spells kicked in.
“You didn’t earn your title you know that, right?” Nyx’s raspy, 100 pack a day smoker voice filtered over to me from a few feet away. “You only got it because mommy and grandma were powerful witches.”
Good. Let her think that.
I dug my nails into my palms letting the blood drip onto the earth.
Then I started to murmur an ancient spell in Aramaic, it wasn’t in any spell books, it was passed down from my gran to me through word of mouth and it made the earth my ally. When I finished it I slammed my palm onto the ground, feeding the earth my blood.
Nyx was slowly stalking toward me, her raven black hair hung limply at her sides, clods of dirt still in it. She was taller than I thought she’d be, nearly six feet and clouds of black magic followed behind her like messengers of death. My eyes flicked briefly to Dax who had the king of the vampires neck in his mouth. It took longer than I expected for my spell to work, but when it did, the ground shook violently and Nyx was thrown off her feet unprepared.
I shot up then, flinging my wand at her, throwing spell after spell to weaken her power. They crashed against her invisible shields as she countered my spells. Then just as quickly and out of thin air, a sword appeared in her left hand.
Damn, weapons-conjuring was some dark magical shit.
I didn’t have that ability but I did know how to conceal them. One tap to my bracelet from my wand and it transformed from the everyday piece of jewelry to a twelve inch dagger with a poisoned blade.
Nyx grinned looking from my dagger to her sword. “Mines bigger,” she said.
She whipped out then, with one of her black tendrils of magic that floated about her, and it slammed into my neck, curling around it and shattering my protection charms.
Shit. I thought my protection wards would hold, but this magic was powerful. Nyx must have been resting in hell for the past hundred years because she’d learned some shit while she was gone. I sliced my sword through the black tendril in vain but nothing happened. My blade passed through it like it was air and yet it felt like a very real, tangible thing was choking me. I couldn’t breathe. My eyes darted around to see the chaos before me and affirm that no one would be helping me. Everyone was locked in their own battle.
I kicked off my shoe then and sank my foot into the earth, still in control of my previous spell. It was hard to be concurred with mother earth at your whim. A tree root sprang out of the ground then, wrapping around Nyx’s abdomen and dragging her to the earth. The black tendril around my throat fell away when she’d smashed into the soil, and I gasped for air, grinning.
Hah! Gotcha bitch.
Stepping forward, I raised my dagger, ready to end this, when something moved in my peripheral.
I saw Seraphina too late. Her fist holding a large rock, she cracked me over the side of the head, and then everything went black.
Four
Dax
I’d just ripped out the vampire king’s throat when I saw a blonde witch come up behind Tatiana and knock her out with a rock.
A howl rocked my chest as I launched off of the ground and ran past Nyx who was hacking away at a tree root, so that I could intercept the blonde. I
leapt and sailed through the air landing over Tatiana’s fallen body. Looking up at the blonde witch, I growled. She held the bloodied rock in her hand but looked unsure now that she was faced with going through me. She didn’t seem to have her wand, so I knew she wouldn’t be a problem, I’d take her head clean off in seconds. Tatiana’s body moved underneath me then and I glanced down to see her eyes opening.
With a groan, her arm burst out from under my body and she slammed blondie with a spell that made her eyes go cross-eyed. She dropped to the ground right there, the rock falling from her grasp.
That was effective.
Tatianna moaned and I stepped away from her, my eyes on Nyx. Those fucking black magical bands were reaching this way, and I wasn’t sure if I had any power to rival them.
“Enough!” Tatiana shouted beside me, flinging her wand and an insanely bright light shot out of it, like she was harnessing the sun. It spread across the now dark graveyard and chased the black magic away. Nyx shrieked and held her ears. One by one the other witches in the coven made their way to stand in a circle around Nyx, wands outstretched all with a beautiful bright light coming from them. Nyx was hissing, and pacing the circle unable to break free. The ground was littered with skittering cockroaches and dead vampires.
“My sacrifice?” Tatiana asked me.
Oh yeah. I’d called a rooster from the nearest farm to come over and he was waiting by an adjacent tree.
I felt really bad about luring him to his death but I figured it was the only way to get Nyx back into her sleeping grave, otherwise Tatiana wouldn’t have asked. One rooster for the good of humanity seemed like an okay sacrifice to make.
I pulled on his mind and the big red roosted walked out from behind the tree and strutted over to where we were.
Tatiana, still holding her wand before her, looked down at the cock.
A wonky grin lit up her face, and I couldn’t help but think of how awesome it was that after two years I’d finally gotten her to go out on a date with me. Never mind the fact that it was somewhat forced.
She picked the rooster up by the neck and muttered an apology before breaking his neck quickly in her hands.
Damn woman.
Then Tatiana sliced her palm cleanly pouring her blood over the dead rooster.
“Nyx Blackwood! I bind you to the earth to sleep for a thousand years!” she shouted and thunder cracked overhead. “May you only be awoken by me and me alone,” she shouted and the wind picked up, carrying leaves and the smell of rain with it.
My wolf shivered, and I stepped back a pace. I didn’t like all this magical shit. It smelled weird and it was too unpredictable for my taste.
Nyx ran at Tatiana then, teeth barred and sword out but the redhead threw her dagger from where she stood and it sank into the dark witch’s chest with a thunk. The moment it slammed into her chest, the cockroaches and black bands of magic disappeared and Nyx fell backward, eyes open.
Tatiana flicked her wand then and tendrils of white light wrapped Nyx like a cocoon. The other witches followed suit, and then Nyx was floating a few feet above the ground, her head hanging limp as they lowered her into a deep grave. The earth shook a few times as they dropped her in, as if she was protesting taking such an evil thing into her dirt. But in the end Nyx was buried 6 feet under with a dagger in her chest and a promise to sleep for a thousand years.
When it was all done, I shifted, covering my junk with my hands. Tatiana turned around, for the first time, letting her eyes run slowly down my body.
“Thanks for your help,” she said stiffly. Dried blood was caked at the side of her temple.
I nodded. “You’re welcome. Would you like my pack doctor to look at your head?”
She waved her hand. “I’ll be fine. I have a lot to deal with here since Seraphina got away. How about you pick me up tomorrow at seven?”
Shock ripped through me. I wasn’t going to have to beg?
“Seven is fine,” I responded.
“I’ll see you then,” she said a little less sternly than she normally spoke to me. Like maybe she didn’t hate me anymore. Only disliked me a little.
I nodded in return and started to walk away, knowing without a shadow of a doubt she was looking at my ass.
Five
Tatiana
We were lucky no one died last night. Although Lydia was on strict bedrest from our coven healer, everyone had made it through. Seraphina was missing and I knew that was going to come bite me in the ass later but for now I tried to just deal with the present. Rowena had been laid to rest this morning in the family plot on my mother’s land, and I was now preparing to go out on a date with Dax Cohen. I couldn’t stop thinking of the way he stood over my unconscious body, protecting me until I woke up. Why would he do that? Was it in the realm of possibility that I could have judged the local alpha wrong.
“You’re NOT wearing that,” Lydia said from her place in the bed as I finished my makeup in the mirror.
I looked down at my black t-shirt and tight jeans tucked into ankle boots. “Why not?” I asked.
Lydia rolled her eyes, her short, black, cropped hair moving as she shook her head.
“Because you look like you’re going bowling with your mom not out on a date with the hottest werewolf in town.”
I sighed. Lydia loved werewolves—they were the only thing she dated. I was shocked to hear she hadn’t slept with Dax.
“This is a fake date,” I told her. “He wants to win this for his ego, and I’m being forced. I’m not wearing a dress for a fake date.”
Lydia rolled her eyes. “You have issues,” was all she said.
The doorbell rang then, and I slid off of the stool I’d been doing my makeup in front of.
“See ya soon,” I told Lydia casually.
“Feel free to sleep over!” she called out after me and I rolled my eyes.
Swinging my front door open, I was taken aback by the clean cut man before me. He was holding flowers. Pink peonies. My favorite.
“Good evening Tatiana.” He extended the flowers.
“Ah, thank you. Good evening,” I responded flustered.
I hadn’t expected this to be a sincere, dressed in a suit holding flowers kind of date. He looked down at my t-shirt and jeans. “You look beautiful.”
“Thanks,” I responded. Maybe I should just sleep with him so that he could get over it already and realize he was only after the chase.
Nah. I respected myself too much to have a one night stand with the man whore. I set the flowers on my coffee table and we made our way outside. The full moon was two weeks away, and they had to drink the tea for a full ten days before.
I reached into my purse and pulled out the copper jar with his tea in it. “Here, I forgot to give you this.” I handed it to him. He stopped and took it from me, brushing against my fingers as he did.
As we reached his SUV, he opened the door for me but stopped me before going in. Reaching into his pants pocket he pulled out a black tie. “I’m sorry but I have to blindfold you, otherwise this won’t be a surprise.”
I raised one eyebrow. “Blindfold me to drive me to the burger shack?” I asked with one hand on my hip. This was a small town, and there were only a handful of places he could be taking me. He unfolded the blindfold and placed it over my eyes. I could feel his breath on my lips, smell him, and desire spiked through me fresh and hot.
Traitorous body.
He lifted me into the car and buckled me in, grazing my stomach with his hand as he did. This date was a horrible idea. What was I thinking agreeing to this? Dinner, movie, nightcap and then home. That was it. No funny business and no falling for this fake romantic crap.
He started the car and then we were moving. I didn’t like being blindfolded, I didn’t like not having control. “So, did your pack end up healing okay?” I made light conversation.
“Yes, thank you for asking. We now have a major problem with to local vampire coven that needs to be worked out though,” he stated.
>
I sighed. “Yeah and Seraphina got away.”
“Shall I make us a meeting with the new king? See if we can draw up a peace treaty before there is retaliation?”
Working together? Well, I was high priestess now, and Rowena worked closely with Dax often on these types of matters.
I nodded. “That would be fine.”
We crossed a bridge. I could hear the tread under the tires and my brows drew together.
“Where are you taking me?”
I could hear the smile in his voice. “A special place.”
Okay…
I was trying to play nice but I really wanted to rip this tie off and just see where we were going. Yet, his pack risked their lives helping us yesterday, and the only thing he’d requested was this one date, so I’d let him have his fun. For now.
The car slowed and then pulled to a stop. He put it in park.
“I’ll be right back to get you,” he said, and the door opened then shut quickly.
This was getting a little ridiculous—alphas and their need for control. I couldn’t see!
The door opened, and then his strong hands were unbuckling me and helping me out of the car. I tilted my head to the side to listen for any clues, the sound of a live band or a crowded bar. When I heard nothing but birds chirping, I frowned.
“Alright. We’re here,” he said, and I detected a hint of nervousness in his voice.
I felt his hands reach around the back of my head and then he untied my blind fold. When he pulled it away, I had to blink a few times to be sure of what I was seeing.
Hundreds and hundreds of tea lights covered the lush green grass of island park, where a blanket and picnic basket had been set up.
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